I always have my comically oversized water bottle and emotional support lip gloss within reach. So when this E.L.F. BEAUTY x Stanley 1913 collab dropped, I nearly lost it.
If you missed it, it's a Glow Reviver Lip Oil holder that clips onto your Stanley handle, and comes with limited edition branded stickers. Necessary? No. Absurdly delightful? Yes.
Whether it’s teaming up with Tinder or Liquid Death, e.l.f.'s irreverent, unexpected, limited edition collabs and wild willingness to experiment remind me more of the fashion industry rather than the beauty category. Beyond a buzzy collab, I want to talk about how it’s a fascinating cultural case study.
First, lip glosses. (I’m using this as a shorthand for the entire category of lip oil / balm / gloss / stain / sleeping mask products that have exploded the last couple years.) The Guardian recently wrote a piece on how lip glosses aren’t just beauty items to stash—and lose—in your purse. They’re accessories. Status symbols. Cult products that have transcended category function to deliver cultural cachet and a big IYKYK wink to those other fans that get it.
So, let’s unpack this particular e.l.f. drop. You get accessories (collectible stickers) for your accessory (Stanley holder clip on) for your accessory (lip oil) to pair with your other instantly recognisable accessory (Stanley cup). The experience of reapplying a specific lippy in public, like drinking from a Stanley, is a form of advertising. Product as billboard, product as cultural code. This marketing masterclass isn’t just multi-layered fun, it’s really. bloody. smart.
The tiny Stanley points to something else interesting happening in the space. Like Jane Birkin-ification of charms, Jacquemus’ tiny handbag hysteria, or the revival of 00s charm necklaces currently on the high street, the “charmification” of beauty is here. Playful adornments are becoming as culturally hot as the holy grail products themselves, made all the more interesting because of e.l.f.’s mass market price points.
As Ana Andjelic puts it in her excellent Sociology of Business newsletter, “Cross-category collaborations are world-building at their best.”
Connecting brand narratives from different areas that consumers find aspirational, speaking directly to fandoms, and force multiplying across unexpected touchpoints to drive cultural relevance that turn category norms upside down. (All the new paradigms of brand building, community and fandom Zoe Scaman has been leading for years.)
Ana, again: “Operating in multiple cultural areas is less a matter of a Renaissance skillset and more a business necessity.” Read that once more: business necessity. It’s a lesson that playfulness creates whole new brand worlds to explore & own, but only if you’re brave enough to build it. So, grab your lip gloss, and let’s go.
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As it happens, eGEN is all about gamifying the world. If you’re interested in pop culture and immersive strategies for your brand and IP, let’s chat.
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1moLove this!